ATLANTA — Democrats tired of being in the minority aren’t content to wait for circumstances to reverse.

They want to speed up political trends they perceive to be in their long-term favor. They just don’t agree on what to do in the meantime.

Political idealists like to think that logical reasoning about important issues sways the majority to the proper position and support of the right candidates. That might be true in a swing state like Ohio or Florida, but in Georgia, demographics rule.

Hard-boiled political operatives recognize the type of people who are moving into the state — one of the fastest growing in the country — largely determine who wins elections here. In the 1990s, waves of middle-class professionals from the Midwest brought their Republican voting habits and tilted the state toward the GOP.

Now, demographers tell us the tide has turned, and the current waves are bringing black, Hispanic and Asians who, along with younger voters, are swinging the scales back in the Democrats’ favor.

Experts predict the balancing point will arrive around the 2018 elections.

Until then, party strategists hope that in next year’s U.S. Senate race, Republicans will help by having a bloody primary fight that nominates a candidate so far to the right as to alienate independents.

However, waiting on demographic shifts and missteps by your opponent is too passive for politicos. They just don’t agree on what to do now.

Their different strategies for hastening the tipping were on display Tuesday at a panel discussion hosted by the Atlanta Press Club.

Mike Berlon, chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, acknowledged that Republican’s redistricting will lock in their control of the General Assembly and the majority of congressional seats until the 2020 census. So, he’s after statewide races.

To do that, he’s trying to build the party apparatus on the local level so the mechanics will boost Democratic turnout 5 percent in each county. He said that would provide the winning margin in statewide contests.

“Calling people names doesn’t work for us,” he said. “I’m more concentrated with trying to develop the party with 159 county parties.”

House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams is instead focused on the legislative seats Berlon looks past. She’s found 39 that Democrats could win, and she directs her caucus’ limit funds on those challengers with the most promise.

She sees opportunities in attracting white women put off by GOP positions on guns, education and abortion.

Yet, her style in the legislature is less confrontational, seeking compromise when possible and influence on the margins.

“That’s what I do,” she said.

Steve Anthony, former executive director of the state party who’s now a political science instructor at Georgia State University, recommends aggression. He said when demographics were strengthening Republicans in the 1990s, Democrats limited their gains by taking the fight to them.

“I acted like we were in the minority,” he said. “I took the fight to them.”

Another voice for bellicosity, Bryan Long of the liberal group Better Georgia is also frustrated by Berlon’s approach. Long floods the press and social media with snarky news releases blasting Republicans whenever he can dream up an excuse, going beyond Anthony’s tactic of calling press conferences at the drop of a hat.

Long would recruit more candidates, noting the last election featured fewer Democrats on the ballot than at any time in the last 100 years. Candidates attract voters, and that will boost turnout, he argues.

A challenge for minority party leaders is recruiting candidates without money. Many donors are motivated by political expediency rather than ideology, meaning they contribute to whoever is in a position to return the favor. That draws money to candidates, usually incumbents, rather than parties.

Other star-struck donors are swept up by personalities and support them just as they do entertainers or athletes they like.

That means party leaders no longer control the “mother’s milk of politics,” money, with the power to reward or punish candidates.

One of the remaining resources parties can offer candidates is organization. Berlon is focused on that by having satellite offices in places like Augusta and adding field staff instead of an executive director.

But these days, campaigns start so many months — or years — before primaries bestow the party resources on a nominee that candidates have already built their own organizations by then. That also weakens the influence of a party.

Berlon has spent money on surveys and honing issue messages. But as soon as he listed the current issues, Rep. Scott Holcomb immediately said, “I wouldn’t run on those issues.”

Holcomb is considered a rising star in the legislature as one of the few white, male Democrats and a military veteran to boot. And Anthony agreed that candidates these days determine the issues.

So, what’s a party chairman to do?

Walter Jones is the Atlanta bureau chief for Morris News and has been covering Georgia politics since 1998. Follow him on Twitter @MorrisNews and Facebook or contact him at walter.jones@morris.com or 404-5889-8424.